Ducks and a Raccoon
by Hutch-is-gorgeous
Summary: "The Fix" episode related. Hutch loves most animals but not always.


Thank you sparkle7311 for beta reading this.

A few small changes have been added since then. Any mistakes are my fault.

Feedback from anyone who reads this is much appreciated.

Title: _DUCKS and a RACCOON _

It was the second week of October in 1975, and the two men were standing right outside of the Torino.

"You okay?" Starsky asked Hutch.

"Yeah," the blond replied. At the same time nodding his head a few times so Starsky, and also Ben Forest, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Torino, would know that he was.

"Ya wanna drive my car?" Starsky was joking, of course. Hutch snorted at that, but he'd messed up because he'd intended on it being a full outright laugh. He wasn't okay after all.

Starsky put an encouraging hand on his back that in time everything really would be okay. Starting with taking out his handcuffs. Handing them to Hutch, giving him the pleasure to put them around Forest's wrists.

###

Now that the mobster, and his thugs Coney and Morrisey, were in jail, some people, who like Starsky and Hutch worked out of Parker Center, began telling Hutch they'd heard about the APB that had been put out on him. They were glad that he was no longer missing, but when he was… Is that when he'd got the bruises on his face?

He answered, "Yes" each time, then politely told them the thug- Monk was dead, and until the preliminary hearings of the others involved with beating him, he didn't feel up to talking about it anymore.

To get Hutch away from anyone else at Parker asking about the bruises, Starsky took him back outside and guided him into the Torino. He drove them four blocks from the station, then around some street corners, and behind a big concrete slab wall where they wouldn't be seen.

A half hour went by with just talking casually about assorted topics, when, "We never did go out for lunch," Starsky complained. "I know a place six miles from here where I might even try their duck and wild rice soup. Although minus the yams. You can have yours with yams. Whadduyasay, Hutch? Does the soup sound good to you?"

"My taste buds tell me it sounds delicious, but my stomach is still too upset from barfing my guts out during the 48 hours of nothing but sweat and pain for me to eat anything other than Jell-O, saltine crackers, and drink 7-Up, or Sprite or Ginger Ale. No coffee for me either! I'm forever through with drinking that stuff. With or without sugar!"

"I feel sorry for you, buddy. Really, I do," Starsky remarked, lightly patting Hutch's stomach. "But looking on the bright side of things, the Jell-O comes in flavors other than the orange I've only seen you put in your mouth during the other times you're not feeling up to par. Like when you have the stomach flu."

"You're right, it does come in different flavors. But does the restaurant where you might try their duck and wild rice soup, although minus the yams, even have Jell-O? And what about the crackers and 7-Up, or Sprite, or Ginger Ale? Do they have any of those?"

"Patients! Patients! Blintz! Let me call them and find out."

Starsky was gone less than five minutes, he stated that the person who answered the payphone said, "They have the soup, so of course they have the crackers! They have 7-Up, and Sprite and also Ginger Ale. They normally didn't have Jell-O in any flavor, but today they have strawberry, lime, and grape."

Hutch responded to that with, "I'll eat their strawberry and the lime, but not the grape."

"Why not that?" the forever curious Starsky wanted to know.

"I like real grapes that grow on vines, but not grape Kool-Aid."

"Like that explains everything!" Starsky exclaimed. Throwing his arms up in the air. In affectionate exasperation at his partner and best friend.

"Look, Starsk. Let's just forget about the Jell-O and concentrate on if you eat the soup you might be eating a sister, or brother, or some other relative of the ducks that float on the canal in front of my house."

"You have a good point there. I believe I'll pass on trying any kind of their soup and go for eating at least four grilled cheese sandwiches and baked potatoes with lots of butter and sour cream!"

###

Starsky was staying the night with Hutch, he was sleeping on the couch. When at three in the morning he got up, flipped on a light switch, and Hutch was no longer softly snoring and zonked out in the bed. Rather- he was sitting on the side of it, and moaning, and in no way hiding he was very agitated. He looked highly agitated too. Holding his right thumb and index finger in the shape of a gun or of someone giving a vein in their left arm an injection of something. In Hutch's case, that would be heroin.

Starsky walked over to him, "You hurting that bad for a fix, huh?"

"Yeah. Definitely yeah! I thought the cravings for the stuff were supposed to be all the way over."

"Not always," when Starsky had some ideas what to do about the depressive mood Hutch was now in. The first idea was to give Hutch an _I'm here for you, buddy_ hug. The second idea was a bit more complicated, and that was to convince Hutch to join him in some skipping.

When Starsky brought it up, Hutch looked at him as though he were crazy. The slightly shorter man protested by saying, "Hey, I read in a magazine…a reputable one… that it's hard to stay glum while you skip."

"Okay. I'll skip with you, but where do you suggest we do it?"

"At one of the city parks that don't have a curfew. I'm thinking of Oz Park."

"Where there's actually a yellow brick road as well as a statue of the Wizard of Oz. Right, Starsk?"

"Right, kiddo."

"Okay, but first we need to get out of our P.J.s and into our street clothes, and _no I _don't have a brown wig with braided pigtails, or any ruby red slippers, or anything else for either of us to be Dorothy!"

"What about something for us to be the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion?"

"Maybe when it's Halloween, but not now."

###

When it was still dark outside, they arrived and safely back at Hutch's place. Starsky parked the Torino in the grass. Hutch didn't say anything about that, Starsk then announced that after all of that skipping, he was going to take a long shower.

Hearing the water pipes humming, normally they were soothing enough to lull Hutch back to sleep. This morning, though, he found out that even with the pipes doing what they were doing, he wasn't tired enough to get some more zzzs. Putting back on his shoes, he went to where in his cottage house he kept his art supplies. Intending to work on a new painting, but soon discovered he didn't have the color he wanted to get started on it.

_If I'm lucky, the bottle of paint I want is still inside my car that's parked in my driveway. The Galaxie is no longer in Monk's garage where it was hidden after I was knocked out by one of his accomplices and I was taken from my own house!_

Frightened that something like that would happen to him again in the near future, he needed to get a hold of himself.

###

It was now warm enough outside that Hutch didn't have on a shirt and turning on one of his Ford Galaxie's interior lights, he located the bottle of paint under the backseat. Where he'd last seen it.

Bending over, picking up the bottle, and getting out of the car, he stood up all the way. That's when his hands began badly trembling. And for the second time in about an hour and a half he seriously wanted a fix!

He accidentally dropped the bottle of paint, it rolled under his car. He had on blue jeans, his wallet with cash in it was tucked in one of the pockets. But at least the bottle rolling under the car was enough of a distraction to not get in his car and hunt down a drug dealer with a kit that had everything he needed to shoot himself up!

Unsteady on his feet and wobbling getting down on his hands and knees, for some unknown reason he felt like using his left arm to reach for the bottle under the vehicle.

The arm with the track marks in the crook of his elbow and at first it was against his will that they'd stuck him with a needle. But after sticking him some more times, then withholding it, they had him shamelessly begging for it!

Well, he was shamefaced about it now, when suddenly he was in pain! Excruciating pain! And caused by something other than being assaulted by some criminals!

He pulled his limb out from under the car and that's when he saw it was a good-sized raccoon that had all its teeth sunk into his lower left arm. He shook his arm… hard! And multiple times. Trying to shake the animal off him. But it paid him no mind other than to make a few grunting sounds and foam some more at the mouth.

Hutch started frantically screaming, "Let go of me! Let go of me!" And when it didn't, and no one came to his aid, he stood back up and staggered a few feet from the car. Whacking his arm with the animal still attached to it against the side of his house and more than a few times.

That's when he heard and felt a bone in his lower arm painfully break. Because of it, he was seeing spots dancing before his eyes, but he'd managed to kill the raccoon. Sure, he felt sorry that it was dead, when it wasn't its fault it had rabies and now so did he, unless he got rabies shots!

With his good right arm, he was clutching to his chest his bad one, and that was bleeding quite heavily.

He felt like crying… What with how in about a week's time his life had gone from being reasonably enjoyable, to being like this! That's when he heard and then saw a car pull into his driveway and park right behind his Galaxie. He recognized the Jaguar as something his wealthy dad would rent from an airport. Lucas was a renowned doctor, Hutch loved him just fine, and so did the older man love his son just as much. That's why Hutch had offered that while Lucas was in town on a four-day mandatory business meeting that on his downtime he stayed with him instead of at a ritzy, but stuffy hotel.

But wasn't that four-day meeting supposed to begin five weeks from today?

That's when Lucas got out of the Jaguar, and Starsky walked out of the house in a bathrobe to see where Hutch was, and Hutch wanted to pass out and be free from the severe agony he was in. But no matter how hard he tried to faint, he just couldn't do it.

The next thing he knew his father was putting his hands under his armpits and Starsky was grabbing a hold of his ankles, and they gingerly carried him inside the house where there was more lighting.

Sitting Hutch down on the couch, Lucas' eyes widened when he saw that the arm was broke. Widened even further seeing the bite marks and then got even wider when he noticed the track marks.

"That rabid raccoon bit me and I can… can… can…can also explain the track marks, Dad!"

"Let Starsky do it so I can tend to your arm." But when Lucas gently moved it to examine it some more, Hutch still cried out cause it hurt so bad, and he shied away from him to the other side of the couch.

Hutch knew it sounded silly and childish, but he wanted his mom. But she was obviously still in Duluth, Minnesota. No doubt taking care of some things that couldn't be done in California, or else she would be here as well.

"Sorry that I'm causing you more pain," Lucas told Hutch. "But I wasn't finished looking at that arm so get back here."

Hesitant at first to do what the man said, out of respect for his father, Hutch obeyed him. Just like he did when he was a kid.

###

Starsky returned from the kitchen area with a couple of packets of spearmint chewing gum. "Say '_Ah_' Hutch."

"What for?" Hutch asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"So I can put some of this gum in your mouth for you to chomp on while your dad gets back to doing what he can for your arm. But first we need to move you to the bathtub so you can bleed in that instead of continuing to do it out here and ruining your furniture."

"Don't carry me. I can walk by myself," Hutch insisted.

"Are you sure about that!?" Starsky sarcastically, though concernedly, replied.

"Yep."

"Okay. If you say so."

###

"Oh! I'm suddenly dizzy!" Hutch exclaimed, and ended up walking with lots of assistance to the bathroom where they sat him down in the tub.

Lucas cleaned the bite wounds super good with soap and warm water. After rinsing the soap off and patting the wounds dry with a clean towel, he wrapped a bunch of gauze around the lower arm and tied it to keep the gauze on and to stem the bleeding. Then he had Starsky get him some supplies in the house to make Hutch a temporary cast.

When Starsky returned with them, Lucas asked Hutch, "Does your captain know what this Ben Forest had his thugs do to you, and is he going to fire you my son if he does?"

"Oh, he knows about what those creeps did to me, Dad," Hutch replied. Then chomped on the gum harder and faster as his dad-though carefully- was putting the makeshift cast on his arm and not purposely meaning to make it hurt worse than it so far had.

Eventually he stopped chomping long enough to say, "But if Dobey gets wind that I'm still sometimes craving the Horse, you can bet he won't be happy about it. However, there's still a 50 percent chance that he won't can my hide, but it's the other 50 percent that he will that I'm worried about. By the way, I had another craving while you were in the shower, Starsk," Hutch confessed, looking anguished about it. His heart beating a million times a minute and feeling like it was going to fly out of his chest.

Hoping to comfort Hutch, Starsky remarked, "Give it a few weeks and you won't be having any cravings at all. Your dad can back me up on that."

###

Starsky had something else he needed to point out, "No offense, Lucas, but _Hutch_ we still need to get you to a hospital to get you a better cast than what you have on, and you need some antibiotic pills to keep regular everyday germs from infecting those bites. A hospital far away from here. Can't have any doctor, or nurse, or any other medical personal in or near Bay City see those track marks and turn you into Internal Affairs."

The three men in the bathroom knew if that happened, Hutch could definitely kiss his career as a cop good-bye.

####

Lucas changed the subject to the reason he had come to Bay City earlier than what he was supposed to was because the business meetings he had to attend had to be re-scheduled for an earlier date. Lucas also apologized for not being able to get a hold of Hutch each time he tried to and tell him about the re-scheduling.

Lucas had to stay behind in Bay City to be present at today's meeting, but he had chartered a private plane to fly Hutch and Starsky to Denver, Colorado.

Hutch's broken and bitten arm was further attended to at the city's best hospital and what his health insurance wouldn't pay for, his father would.

And because of the bite wounds that needed cleaned frequently, and also needed room air to help heal them, Hutch's arm had new but also easily changeable gauze wrapped around it and tied so it wouldn't fall off. Plus, they put his arm in an easily removable splint cast.

Thankfully, the medical staff there hadn't asked too many questions about his track marks. Another good thing was that the gauze and the cast were now fully covering up all the marks. Making it possible for the two detectives to return to Bay City that afternoon.

###

Lucas was again at one of those meetings, Starsky and Hutch were at a good medical clinic in Bay City that Hutch normally went to when he was sick enough to have to go to it. Plus, it was open seven days a week and had long business hours making it a lot easier for him to get an appointment.

Currently, he was lying flat on his back on an exam and treatment table. Dressed in corduroy pants and a short-sleeved velour shirt that was lifted up, exposing his stomach. About to get his first rabies shot.

The vaccine was made from Duck embryo with dried killed rabies virus, and the glass bottle's label too said the treatment (for rabies) required a minimum of 14 doses.

Hutch was a tall enough man and weighed enough pounds, even though he hadn't much to eat this week- when Starsky and he were told by Dr. Frackle he would need 21 doses.

Hutch and Starsky knew that meant 21 days of shots! And had heard several years beforehand how painful rabies shots were, and naturally they both weren't looking forward to Hutch getting them.

The doctor also told them the narcotic painkillers Hutch was taking for his broken arm and the bites wouldn't much dull the pain of the rabies shots. It was, however, then that Hutch, and not anyone else in the room, decided to throw a temper tantrum.

"I hate…as in Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Forest and his men! If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been up at 4:30 on Monday morning and looking for a bottle of paint in my car, and therefore wouldn't have been attacked by that raccoon! I'm also sick and tired of hurting and the rabies shots haven't even begun yet! I'm not finished with my tirade because"…and Hutch kept on ranting and raving.

Starsky was listening to him while effortlessly recalling he was up at that time in the morning too. Taking a shower, and if he hadn't been doing that, he would've known that Hutch needed help getting the coon off his arm instead of painfully breaking his arm by doing it all by himself.

But now wasn't the time to tell Hutch, "How do you think that makes me feel not being there for you when you needed me?"

Well, he was here for him now and cut into the blond's hissy fit with, "What do you say to me and thee doing some compassion meditation so you can calm yourself down? Your first rabies shot will hurt worse if you don't untense all those muscles in your body you have all bunched up."

"Compassion mediation, what's that?" Hutch inquired. Raising his eyebrows when he could be just as curious to know the answer to something as Starsky.

"I can fully understand how _we_ and not just _you_ want Forest and his surviving goons to go to prison and for a very long time. With the way each of their preliminary hearing went this afternoon, they will be sentenced to such at their trial. But let's send them good vibes that while they're in jail and then in prison, they have good health. And that while they're there, they don't get unduly harmed by any of the other many criminals there or by any of the prison staff."

"You've got to be kidding me. I can't send them those vibes and Starsk, I would think neither could you."

"Let's give the compassion meditation a try anyway. I meant it when I said your shot will hurt worse if you don't untense all those muscles you have bunched up."

Minutes later, "This kind of meditation isn't working for me, Starsk. I'm still fuming mad at Forest and his thugs for doing what they did to me. Though they didn't have sickening sexual intercourse with me, they did rape my body, my mind, and my very soul!"

The doctor at the clinic had something to say about that, "Mr. Hutchinson, whatever this Forest guy and his thugs did to you sounds awfully distressing, but you're a cop. Think about how some other victims of serious crimes have found ways to quickly relax and use two of those ways right now."

Hutch did some deep breathing exercises and thought about how it was better him than someone else who was tortured by Forest and his thugs, and both of those coping techniques helped him considerably unwind. But when he was given his first rabies injection, he couldn't help but squeeze his eyes tightly closed, deeply frown, then exclaim, "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! This sure does hurt a lot! And that's a gigantic understatement!"

###

Starsky drove Hutch from the medical clinic back to the cottage house. As soon as they were inside, Hutch headed to his bed to lie down on his back, and Starsky to where Hutch kept the hot water bottle.

Filling it up all the way, he put it on Hutch's achy and throbbing stomach.

Also, when Hutch had a severe cold, he liked it when a willing female carded their fingers through his blond bangs. Starsky obviously wasn't a woman. He began doing just that. Hoping it too would help Hutch feel better.

After a bit, Hutch said it did help, but that the rabies shot was agony! And didn't think he would be able to take too many more of them.

"You'll die if you don't and I would lose my partner and best friend!" Starsky cried out.

Then, for added emphasis, "If you don't take the rest of them here's what will happen to you before you die." And handed Hutch a pamphlet to read which said:

_Neurological symptoms would develop, including:_

_irritability or aggressiveness_

_excessive movements or agitation_

_confusion, bizarre or strange thoughts, or hallucinations_

_muscle spasms and unusual postures_

_seizures (convulsions)_

_weakness or paralysis (when a person cannot move some part of the body)_

_extreme sensitivity to bright lights, sounds, or touch_

_Someone with rabies can produce a lot of saliva (spit), and muscle spasms in their throat might make it hard to swallow. This causes the "foaming at the mouth" effect that has long _been associated_ with rabies infection. It also leads to a fear of choking or what seems like a "fear of water," another well-known rabies sign._

Of course, Hutch didn't want to die and leave Starsky to grieve for him, and even before he read the pamphlet he decided to man up and take the remainder of the shots and informed Starsk of that.

Of course, also this afternoon their captain paid Hutch a visit at the cottage house and where Dobey could bellow without anyone with nosey ears hearing him.

"I'm no dummy!" he barked. Pointing a beefy index finger at Hutch. "And know more about withdrawal from heroin than you think! You've been having some cravings for it. But I'm sure Starsky has told you the cravings will only last a few more weeks. If within that time you do score a fix, I can only protect you so much and will have no choice but to fire you. Also, I'll kick your tail end to the sun and back again if you do score! I'm sure Starsky will join me in doing that! You got that, Hutchinson!?"

The blond gulped a few times in answer to that.

"Good boy!" he said. "In the meantime, I'm giving you and your partner two more weeks of time off with pay! Use the money wisely!"

After Dobey left, "You know that box of fireworks you have left from the Fourth of July?" Starsky ventured to ask Hutch. "Let's go shoot all of them off in celebration of you and me receiving some more time off with pay. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Really? You mean that?"

"With all my heart and Starsk…"

"Yeah."

"I'm hungry, but my stomach is upset from the shot. Before we go shoot fireworks, can we drop by the grocery store? I've got a craving for some of that grape Jell-O you were talking about."

Patting the top of Hutch's head, "Captain Dobey is right. You are a good boy."

"A good man is more like it!" Hutch retorted.

"Same difference!"

Then on their way out the door to the store, Hutch's favorite duck in front of his house came up to him.

Hutch squatted down to pay it some attention and…

The End

End notes: According to one website, the rabies vaccine has not been given in the stomach since the 1980s. For adults, it should only be given in the deltoid muscle of the upper arm (administration to the gluteal area is NOT recommended, as studies have shown this can result in a less effective immune response).

Another website has that with this vaccine a person who is exposed and has never been vaccinated against rabies should get 4 doses of rabies vaccine – one dose right away, and additional doses on the 3rd, 7th, and 14th days. They should also get another shot called Rabies Immune Globulin at the same time as the first dose.

.


End file.
